Sept. 8, 2007
Vanderbilt is now 1-1 overall, 0-1 in the SEC on the season. The Commodores continue to struggle in Southeastern Conference openers, falling to 1-9 in their last 10 games.
The Commodores return to action next Saturday in a home match-up against annual SEC West Rival Ole Miss.
Pregame Notes:
Vanderbilt and Alabama are playing before a sellout crowd of 39, 773 in Vanderbilt Stadium. It marks the second sellout in the last three games in the stadium.
Vanderbilt Notes:
– Jeff Jennings (R-Jr.) earned his first start at tailback in more than a year. Jennings missed the 2006 season with a knee injury suffered on Nov. 12, 2005.
– With 5:02 left in the first quarter, LB Marcus Buggs (R-Sr.) stopped an Alabama drive with a five-yard sack of QB John Parker Wilson.
– Cassen Jackson-Garrison stopped Vanderbilt’s fourth possession with a 25-yard rush. QB Chris Nickson then connected with TE Justin Green for 17 yards with 3:25 left. It was Green’s first career reception. Junior Bryant Hahnfeldt successfully concluded the drive with a 33-yard FG.
– With 14:26 left in the second quarter, Reshard Langford gave Vanderbilt excellent field possession with an interception – his seventh career pick. The Commodores were not able to get points off the turnover.
The Commodores were hurt by penalties in the first half:
– An offensive pass interference negated a 60-yard reception by Earl Bennett on the first play of the game;
– A facemask infraction negated an apparent 73-yard punt return for a touchdown by Alex Washington;
– Two Vanderbilt penalties, resulting in 26-net yards, on a single play helped Bama get in position for a late second quarter FG.
Commodore Superlatives:
– Earl Bennett: Caught four passes for 52 yards. He moved into third place all-time among Commodores in receiving yardage, passing Martin Cox (1975-78). He has 2,297 yards for his career.
– Bennett also surpassed former Tennessee receiver Marcus Nash on the SEC list for career receptions. He now ranks 13th place all-time among SEC receivers with 178 catches.
– Justin Wheeler (R-So., WR) and Justin Green (R-Fr., TE) caught their first three passes of their Commodore careers’.
– Mackenzi Adams (R-So., QB) completed 13 of 23 passes in a relief role for starter Chris Nickson. Adams connected with George Smith on a 15-yard TD in the fourth quarter. It was Adams’ first career scoring strike. The 13 completions is a single-game high for Adams.
– For the second straight game, D.J. Moore (So., CB) posted double-digit tackles. He had 12 against Alabama, one week after posting 11 vs. Richmond.
– Marcus Buggs put together a solid effort on defense, contributing eight tackles, two tackles for loss including a sack, and a pair of quarterback hurries.
